Friday, November 25, 2011

Makin' Thanksgiving dinner

Dear Shayne,

Every year, Bill and I make a complete Thanksgiving dinner just for the two of us. Then we eat leftovers for a week -- it's fantastic! This year, I snapped photos of the food we made all day. Want to see? I knew you would.

For appetizers, we had...

Deviled Eggs:
Thanksgiving: Deviled Eggs
This is the only way I eat eggs. And it has got to be my grandmother's recipe. It's spicy and delicious: mayo, creamy horseradish, dry mustard, onions, salt, and white pepper. Sprinkle with paprika. Fabulous.

Crab dip:
Thanksgiving: Crab Dip
This recipe is so easy, I once worked with a woman who said, "I make it in the car on the way to the party!" I wouldn't go quite that far, but it really is easy:

Mix together 1 package of cream cheese + 1 can of drained crab meat and form it into a brick or a ball or a square or however you want to display it. Slather it with cocktail sauce, put some Triscuits on the tray, and then move out of the way because a stampede of party-goers will mow you down for it. (Thanks to my mom for this recipe!)

Meatballs:
Thanksgiving: Meatballs
This one is a tradition from Bill's family. Nice at a party because you can keep 'em hot in the crockpot. The recipe is straight out of the 60s and still tastes great.

The sauce is, improbably, 1 jar of grape jelly + 1 jar of chili sauce. Sounds horrible, but tastes amazing and makes the house smell fantastic.

While eating appetizers, Bill put the bird on the grill:
Thanksgiving: Turkey on the grill

Bill brines the bird using this recipe, and then bastes the heck out of it with chicken stock, butter, and white white while it's grilling. It's out there for a few hours and comes in moist and delicious!

While the turkey's a'grillin, we make the sides...

Garlic carrots:
Thanksgiving: Garlic Carrots
This recipe from my grandma and is as delicious as it is easy: steam the carrots, then sauté chopped garlic (the original recipe calls for butter, but I use olive oil -- just as good and better for you!)

Then combine the garlic and the carrots and mmmm! (Added bonus: no vampires.)

Green bean casserole:
Thanksgiving: Green Bean Casserole
This stuff grosses me out, but Bill loves it, so here it is. The recipe is straight off the back of the can of fried onions... I suspect that this one dish is single-handedly keeping that item in production. What else are they used for?

Stuffing:
Thanksgiving: Stuffing
I am not really a stuffing eater, so I usually just make Stove Top for Bill. But I saw this recipe last week and thought, "If ever there was a stuffing I will like, it's this one!" So I made it. It seemed really promising: pumpkin bread, corn bread, cranberries, sausage. Mmm!

But I still wasn't wild about it. I think... I am just not a stuffing eater. And Bill didn't love it, either, so we're back to Stove Top next year (as it's also about 1000x easier!) I think that recipe would be fantastic for anyone who likes stuffing. I just... don't.

Hrm... did not get a photo of my mashed potatoes. Guess I was too busy stuffing my face!

I also missed the photo opportunity of the perfect bird coming in from the grill. By the time I turned around to take it, Bill was already this far along:

Thanksgiving: Bird carvin'

The house smelled so good, I think we were just anxious to EAT!

Here is my plate on the table:
Thanksgiving: Dinner!
(Note to self: Get a couple of plain white plates for food photos... every photo I take of my food has a giant tomato in the middle!)

And, finally...

Pumpkin Pie:
Thanksgiving: Pumpkin Pie

Which, as you can see, is really just a vehicle for whipped cream...

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

love,
kelly

2 comments:

Shayne said...

Looks delicious! (Well, the things I'll eat, anyway.) Scott and I made turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, broccoli bake, stuffing and brownies to take to his parents. Plus rolls, pumpkin pie, ice cream, a gigantic apple pie that didn't get touched so he's bringing it to work on Monday and I think that's it.

Sutter Schumacher said...

Yummy! Thanks for letting us expats eat vicariously through you and Bill!